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Officials look on as Pacific Gas & Electric workers excavate the crater at the epicenter of a deadly gas main explosion on Monday in San Bruno, California. State regulators have ordered Pacific Gas & Electric to inspect all of their gas lines following a deadly blast that destroyed 38 homes, severely damaged dozens more and killed at least four people.

SAN BRUNO, Calif. — Pacific Gas and Electric Co. said Monday it was establishing a $100 million fund for victims of a huge gas pipeline explosion that left at least four people dead and destroyed 37 homes.

The money was intended to help victims meet their day-to-day needs and would be provided with no strings attached, said Chris Johns, president of PG&E.

The company previously gave the city of San Bruno $3 million to help cover its expenses related to the blast, Johns said.

Philip Seymour Hoffman withdrew a total of $1,200 from an ATM at a supermarket near his New York City apartment the night before he was found lifeless in his bathroom with a syringe still in his left arm, sources told NBC News.

The announcement came shortly after residents of homes destroyed or badly damaged in the blast left a private meeting with PG&E and city officials. The residents were told they would be receiving $50,000 checks this week to get back on their feet, said Bob Pellegrini, 48, whose home was leveled.

He was in San Francisco when his wife, who is eight months pregnant, called him screaming Thursday on the day of the blast. She fled barefoot from their home with their three young children.

The mood at the meeting was somber, especially when some attendees pressed officials to identify remains found in the damaged homes, Magoolaghan said. People who asked those questions were taken to a separate room by police.

San Bruno police Chief Neil Telford referred all media questions on fatalities to the San Mateo County Coroner's Office.

The remains of at least four people have been found, and authorities have said four others were missing and at least 60 were injured, some critically. Two other people reported missing had been located, city spokeswoman Robyn Thaw said.

Coroner Robert Foucrault said investigators were still trying to confirm whether some of the remains were human.

Residents whose homes were yellow-tagged, meaning some damage, could have a chance to return to the dwellings as soon as Monday afternoon, said Aaron Aknin, San Bruno community development director. Those residents would be accompanied by building inspectors and given one hour to retrieve possessions.

Homeowners whose houses suffered major damage or were destroyed would initially be allowed to tour the blast area by bus and take photographs to submit as part of insurance claims, Aknin said.

They could set up one-on-one appointments later in the week to see their damaged properties up close.

Evacuees who fled after Thursday's blast but whose houses were not damaged began returning home Sunday.

Meanwhile, federal investigators were probing why the line ruptured and the explosion sent a 28-foot segment of pipe onto a street some 100 feet away while creating a crater 167 feet long and 26 feet wide.

Crews crated up the pipeline segment along with two sections from either side of the ruptured segment to send to a federal lab in Washington, D.C., for further examination.

Christopher Hart, vice chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, said investigators want to speak with anyone who smelled gas in the days leading to the blast, especially anyone who reported the problem to PG&E or any other officials. Hart said investigators have not yet seen any record of gas leak complaints.

"We're pursuing those rumors, and we've obtained records — not only from PG&E but from other places where people might call. And so far, we have not been able to verify that anybody smelled gas and called it in," Hart said.

PG&E spokesman Andrew Souvall said there had been no gas leak complaints to the utility's call centers from the San Bruno neighborhood in the week before the blast.

Hart said investigators also want to talk to residents who might have noticed dead vegetation around the rupture spot, which can be a sign of a leak.

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Video: San Bruno blast raises doubts about hidden dangers

Transcript of: San Bruno blast raises doubts about hidden dangers

BRIAN WILLIAMS, anchor:There was something about watching all those
homes
in
California
incinerated in that
natural gas
explosion and fire that made people think of their own
homes
. To see a neighborhood that was thriving just last week gone today makes you
think twice
about the dangers we all live with, in this case the pipelines, gas mains that crisscross the country and bring energy to American
homes
, hundreds of thousands of miles of them passing right under communities like
San Bruno
,
California
.
NBC
's
Miguel Almaguer
starts us off from there tonight just south of
San Francisco
.
Miguel
, good evening.

MIGUEL ALMAGUER reporting:Brian
, good evening. Tonight the company that owns the ruptured line offered a
BP
-like fund, $100 million for families affected by the blast. But tonight, many of them just want answers. As new video surfaced of last week's
gas explosion
in
San Bruno
, the
Pacific Gas and Electric Company
began inspecting all 5,000 miles of its
natural gas
lines. The mandate, issued by a state regulator, was ordered to protect the gas company's 15 million customers. But according to energy experts, Thursday's disaster that incinerated nearly 40
homes
and obliterated an entire neighborhood could have happened anywhere.

Mr. JIM HALL (Former NTSB Chairman):This is a national safety issue because in many local communities, because of a lack of local rules and regulations, neighborhoods have been able -- neighborhoods have grown and sprawled over these high pressure pipelines.

ALMAGUER:With no cause determined in the gas line rupture
PG&E
has come under fire for not replacing the 50-year-old pipe that ruptured sooner. The 30-inch
transmission line
, buried before
homes
were built here, was never intended to run under such a densely populated neighborhood. PG says the pipe appeared stable and was inspected twice in the last year.

Mr. CHRIS JOHNS (PG&E President):We have not found anything in our records that would indicate that people called for that specific area.

ALMAGUER:Nationwide there are 305,000 miles of
natural gas
lines serving more than 65 million
homes
. Over 50 percent of households are heated by
natural gas
. Within days of Thursday's explosion,
California state
leaders called for a congressional hearing.

Representative JACKIE SPEIER (Democrat, California):Across this country gas is being distributed to
homes
, and I think the question that everyone's asking, 'Is this going to happen in my community?'

ALMAGUER:In
San Bruno
, critics say
PG&E
neglected public safety. Watchdog groups called the pipeline one of the most dangerous in the country. They point to one of the gas company's own memos, which reads, "the likelihood of a failure at this location, unacceptably high."

Unidentified Man:These gas lines are definitely a ticking time bomb, and that is why people are concerned, and that's why federal and state regulators need to intervene.

ALMAGUER:But
PG&E
insist their lines are safe. Meantime,
Bob
and
Tina Pelligrini
have lost everything they own. This was their home before the blast. This is their community today.

Mr. BOB PELLIGRINI:I'm sure a lot of other people are worried about what's running underneath their streets and their neighborhood.

ALMAGUER:Tonight,
PG&E
says money for the blast victims who live in the neighborhood just behind me will never make up for what's happened, and they also admitted during a news conference today they're not sure how many of these big gas lines run through neighborhoods all across this region.
Brian
:

WILLIAMS:Miguel Almaguer
starting us off just south of
San Francisco
in
San Bruno
,
California
.
Miguel
,

Julie Frechette, left, comforts neighbor Janel Costanzo shortly after the two returned to their fire-ravaged neighborhood on Sunday. Police allowed some residents home for the first time since Thursday night's gas line rupture. Frechette and Costanzo, who live on Glenview Drive, suffered minor damage to their houses.
(Noah Berger / AP)
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Hundreds of displaced San Bruno residents jammed a town hall meeting at St. Robert's Catholic Church in San Bruno on Saturday.
(Tony Avelar / AP)
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The remains of burned vehicles and homes are seen Saturday near the site of a natural gas explosion.
(Noah Berger / Pool via Reuters)
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